


Good Morning

by theimpossibledemon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abusive John Winchester, Alternate Universe - High School, Depression, Destiel - Freeform, High School Castiel/Dean Winchester, High School Student Castiel, High School Student Dean, Insomnia, Insomniac Dean, M/M, Social Anxiety
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-05-10 01:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5563432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimpossibledemon/pseuds/theimpossibledemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A following of Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak's blossoming high school romance, and the text that jump started it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at fanfiction so any feedback would be appreciated. Much more to come!

**Cas**

There was a boy in the room. Well, technically there were lots of boys in the room, but this one, _oh my_. He was sitting on a desk leaning forwards, hands in his lap, shoulders curved. His head leaned slightly down as he laughed and his hand came up to touch the base of his neck. _That head, that face._ Light brown hair that flowed over his head, freckles that dusted his cheeks like stars, lips that got gently licked far too often to not induce staring. He turned his head to glance across the room and that’s when Cas could see his eyes, _his eyes._ Cas inhaled sharply as he stared at the greenest eyes he had ever seen. He couldn’t look away; it was like emerald city trapped in an iris. Unfortunately his leering was caught, as those green eyes turned to meet his. They locked sights for a moment, just a moment, before a voice came from the front of the classroom and they all slid into their seats, eyes forwards. Cas was only half listening as he used all his willpower not to glance at the boy again, wondering if there was any possibility he was doing the same.


	2. Chapter 2

           

**Cas**

_Only 179 days left,_ Cas thought to himself as he walked out the doors and boarded the bus, beyond ready to go home. It had been quite a day, though not as horrible as he had expected. He only managed to get lost four times and was only a few minutes late to his classes. The high school was much bigger than the middle school and there were so many hallways that all looked the same. Cas was certain he was distinguishable as a freshman all day as he walked around with a map in hand that he had circled all his classes on the night before, drawing paths from each class to the next. His sense of direction was complete shit though, so even with all the preparation he got lost and turned around and had to work up the courage to ask someone where he was. Even though the first day was mostly just introduction and the dumb “get to know you” activities, Cas was tired as hell. There were so many people everywhere and the first day at a new school included, in Cas’s opinion, enough social interaction for an entire year.

            He stepped off the bus and started walking home. It was still close enough to summer that Cas could enjoy the sun and heat as he walked. He took out his phone and shoved his headphones in his ears, playing his favorite music in an attempt to distract himself. Cas’s mind never stopped working. He felt like he was always thinking about two things at once, even if one was in the back of his mind. Sometimes he couldn’t pick one of them to focus on and ended up just staring unintentionally as his brain drowned in his own thoughts. Music gave him something to focus on as he tried to avoid the rolling waves in his mind.

            Once he opened the door he marched straight up to his room. An overwhelming majority of his time was spent in his room, in his bed. It’s not that he didn’t like his family, but with all his siblings moved out, there was no point in being anywhere else. His bed was soft, his bed was safe, his bed was a nice place to be. He slipped under the covers and started his homework, still not looking forward to the next day.

            The next day came and went, as did the next and the next and the next. Once school starts life is just an endless clock. Wake up, get dressed, go to school, come home, do homework, go to bed and start again. Cas had been reuniting with old friends as he learned who was in his classes and just trying to make it through the days. He’d spend the weekends with Balthazar, Kevin, and his best friend Charlie. They had all been friends since elementary school and wanted it to stay that way through high school. They were his three best friends and Cas didn’t really feel like he needed any more. However, the rest of them made new friends fast. Charlie especially, she was a fun, smart, attractive redhead, friends came easy to her. According to Balthazar, everyone either wanted to be her, be friends with her, or fuck her. Balthazar was just as popular though and his friends were multiplying like rabbits. Sometimes Cas wondered how he and Kevin, the more awkward, nerdy ones of the bunch, managed to become friends with them. Even Kevin had more friends than Cas though, and he wondered how that was possible as Kevin spent all of his free time in the library studying or doing work. Because of this he was often absent during their weekend endeavors, but they all still loved him. But Cas was just, Cas. Not really anything extraordinary, just average. He was smart but not the smartest, he had friends but not the most popular, he was cute but there were people cuter. Cas was Cas, but apparently these people liked that.

            Well as their friend groups grew, and Cas’s did not, they began to ask if they could invite others to their weekend gatherings. Everyone agreed and their group grew from four to six to nine to twelve. Not all these people came every weekend, but it expanded the group and made things much more interesting. Cas slowly made friends with the newbies and he was happy and satisfied and enjoying himself. Until number thirteen.

            It was just like any other weekend, a text went out to the twelve saying to meet at Balthazar’s house for a movie night at seven and the responses came back with yes’s, or no’s accompanied by excuses or apologies. Then a text came in that said ‘I’ll be there!’ from a number Cas didn’t have. Cas texted Balthazar:

_Who’s that new number coming tonight?_

_Oh sorry I forgot to mention, I invited my friend Dean._

_Oh, okay. See ya tonight then._

Dean? Someone else Cas hadn’t heard of. But he trusted Balthazar’s judgement in friends; he hadn’t brought any complete assholes yet.

            He arrived at Balthazar’s at 7:15, he was always late. Everyone was already there when he got downstairs. There were only seven of them there that night, but they talked loudly enough to make up for the missing members. Cas grabbed some food and then found a spot next to Charlie on the couch to sit for the movie. He looked up to survey who had come tonight when he noticed an anomaly. Some boy he didn’t recognize was standing across the room, back to him, talking to Balthazar. He leaned over to ask Charlie who this guy was.

“Oh! That’s Balthazar’s new friend Dean Winchester. He told me you knew he was bringing someone new tonight.”

_Right, Dean._ Cas had already forgotten he was coming. He squinted, trying to see across the room, maybe he would recognize him? No such luck, the back of a head isn’t a very distinguishing feature.  

Everyone slowly began to sit down and Balthazar left to get the movie, leaving the stranger alone to establish a place on the couch. Cas was busy arguing with Charlie about whether Dumbledore was actually a good headmaster, so he didn’t notice the person standing next to him until he heard, “Hi, uh can I sit here?” come from above him and saw an arm gesturing towards the spot next to Cas on the couch.

“Yeah sure,” Cas replied, watching as the boy tried to gently sit down, failing when he let out a small “woah!” as he realized how much the couch sank down. He settled in and turned to Cas,

“Hi, I’m Dean.”

Cas looked up at his face to reply, but found himself staring. _Those eyes._ He was staring directly into the greenest eyes he had ever seen, the green eyes he had seen once before. It was two years ago now, but they were still the same eyes that had looked into his in that classroom for a brief moment. Dean licked his lips nervously as he waited for Cas to break the undeniably awkward silence. Cas remembered that, those lips, those freckles, those _eyes._

“I’m Castiel, but you can call me Cas.”

“Nice to meet you Cas.” Dean replied. Then the lights went off as Balthazar started the movie, and Cas had to force himself to look away.

_Dean._


	3. Chapter 3

**Dean**

Dean slammed his locker shut and started his walk to English.

“Hey are you coming to Charlie’s tonight?” Dean asked, glancing at Cas as he spoke. Cas would gently swing his arms as he walked, books in hand. There was always a pencil resting behind his ear that Dean had quickly taken notice of.

“Yeah I think so, are you?” Cas replied, looking over at Dean. Dean would walk with a hand in his pocket, the other freely swinging by his side. There was always one button at the top of his flannel he never bothered with that Cas had begun to notice.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll see you there.” Dean answered as he stopped just outside his classroom, turning to face Cas.

“See you then.” Cas responded, with a small wave as he proceeded two doors down to his own class. He turned his head slightly before entering the room to see if Dean was still there. He was. Cas smiled and Dean returned the wave. The bell went off and both boys disappeared into their classrooms.

\------------------------------

**Cas**

It had been two months since the night at Balthazar’s and Cas and Dean were slowly becoming friends. _Painfully_ slowly. Dean had changed so much from the boy Cas remembered seeing in seventh grade. His hair was shorter and he spiked it up now. His freckles had faded more into the tan of his skin and his face lost its adolescent softness revealing a sharp jaw line. A jaw that now had hints of stubble attempting to grown on it. He wore a flannel and jeans almost every day, not the tee shirt and far too big leather jacket Cas used to see him in. And he had grown, _a lot._ Not just in height, though he had to be over six foot, but he had strong arms, a toned back, and just a larger presence, the kind that did not encourage people to mess with him. He also had these ridiculous bow legs, which Charlie and Balthazar always made fun of him for.

Cas began to think about himself, he had barely changed since middle school. Same brown hair, messily styled atop his head, same blue eyes, same type of sweaters and button downs he wore every day. Other than the obvious, his voice getting deeper and him becoming more muscular, less of the scrawny kid he used to be, really the only thing that had changed about Cas was that he now had thick, black framed glasses that sat on his face, but even those were a year old. Everyone always talked about how much time changes people, especially from middle school to high school, so why hadn’t it changed Cas?

The two didn’t have any classes together, but after a week of bumping into each other in the hall and exchanging awkward hellos, they noticed they had English at the same time with their classrooms just down the hall from each other. Without actually discussing it, Dean began to spend more time at his locker before class, waiting until Cas passed by to call him over. Eventually Cas caught on and now stopped every day without invitation. The walk to English was short but it was nice to have someone to talk with on the way. They talked about school mostly. The teachers they hated, the tests they had that day, their amount of homework, the stupidity of gym class. They also talked about their mutual friends, a group which had now dwindled from thirteen to nine, laughing about the past weekend’s events, or discussing the ones that were coming. What they didn’t discuss was anything personal, the personal, simple kind of information that built friendships. Dean didn’t know Cas’s favorite color, Cas didn’t know what music Dean listened to. The answers to these questions were so guileless, but neither had the courage to ask.

As the year progressed, so did their friendship. Their group of friends had fallen to eight, and even then it was scattered who would actually show up to gatherings. Cas and Dean were the only two that could always be relied on to be there. Apparently neither of them had much of a life. After all this time together, they finally were able to ask those simple questions. Cas’s favorite color was green, “not lime green or forest green,” was how Cas described it, “but more like an emerald.” Dean loved classic rock; Cas could never get him to shut up about AC DC once he got started. Cas liked the summer when he could lay outside in the grass and watch the bees fly from flower to flower. Dean liked the fall when there was always fresh pies at the bakery near his house. The more they talked the closer they got, until Cas felt like they were actually proper friends.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Cas**

And just like that the year was over. Classes were ending, yearbooks were being signed, and goodbyes were being said. All around people’s promises to hang out over the summer and wishes they will have classes together the next year could be heard. It was the end of the day and the eight were gathered together, sounding exactly like all those surrounding them.

“Have a great summer at camp Kevin!”

“Shut up I’m going to miss you guys too much, we will hang out _soon_!”

“Try not to do anything stupid while I’m gone Balthazar.”

Hugs were exchanged, Charlie ran around kissing everyone on their heads. Balthazar attempted to kiss everyone on the mouth, succeeding only twice. Most of them had grown accustom to his spontaneous and somewhat intimate expressions of friendship and had learned how to avoid them. Last goodbyes were said as the group started to break apart, each heading to their buses. Everyone waved as they walked away, yelling last minute adorations at those leaving.

“Jesus, you would think we’re never going to see each other again” Dean said, his shoulders gently bouncing and his chest deflating as he chuckled.

“You wouldn’t imagine we’re going to see them all next week with a goodbye like that.” Cas replied, quietly laughing too, but with much less confidence than Dean, like he was unsure if what he said was actually amusing.           

Dean had decided to walk home on the last day. His house wasn’t far and he had to stop at the store on the way to pick up food for dinner that night. It seemed like Dean was always making dinner, and only ever said it was for him and his brother. Cas just assumed his parents worked late or something like that, but he had never actually asked. Cas had nowhere to be and figuring he could pick up some snacks to start his summer with, he decided to accompany Dean. Dean walked, one hand in his pocket like always, while Cas was beside him, walking awkwardly as he tried not to step on any cracks.

“Do you actually believe that’s bad luck?” Dean asked, after watching Cas and realizing what he had been doing.

“Huh?” Cas looked up, stepping on the next crack as he lost his rhythm. “Oh no, I just like to do it sometimes, it makes the walk more enjoyable.”

“Really? I’m not sure I believe you.” Dean smirked and began to lengthen his strides, reaching to the next block and avoiding the cracks in between. Cas watched and then continued his own gazelle- like stride next to him. Both boys looked over at each other and burst into laughter.

“We look really really stupid” Cas pointed out, as they continued to walk normally again, quickly falling into synchronized step.

“Yeah but you were right, much more fun” Dean smiled, then quickly whipped around in front of Cas so he could hold the store door open for him. “After you” and he motioned toward the door. Cas looked up and offered a quiet thanks, still trying to figure out how they got here so quickly. He could have sworn they had just left the school.

The bell on the door chimed faintly behind them and Dean let out a sigh as he followed Cas inside. The cool air conditioning was a relief from the hot summer sun beating down outside. The store was small but packed with food, which was illuminated by the far too bright florescent lights above. They strolled down the aisles looking for snacks they could grab, joking about buying five pounds of gummy bears. Dean grabbed an abandon cart and started walking backwards. Then, running quickly to build up speed he jumped on the end and he flew down the aisle, spreading his arms out like a bird. Cas was up next to try it. He had a good start but had trouble balancing and had to jump off before the cart stopped, catching it with one hand as it began to speed away.

“Here try it one more time,” Dean said, grabbing the cart from him and pulling it back “I’ll follow behind you so you don’t fall off.” Cas took the cart and began running once again. He hopped on and raced past the cereal boxes as he had before, but started wavering. Before he was able to step off, he felt a hand on his back. Cas could feel the warmth from Dean’s hand spread through his tee-shirt and into his skin as Dean held him upright for the rest of the run. It only lasted a couple of seconds, they weren’t very long aisles, but Cas was very aware of Dean’s touch and could feel it even after he had let go.

“Nice job” Dean said, raising his hand for a high five. Cas slapped it and grabbed the shopping cart so they could finish their actual shopping. In the end Dean ended up with a box of macaroni and cheese and some bread for dinner. Cas had grabbed a couple chocolate bars, chips, and a slice of apple pie. The boys went through the checkout, each paying for their items before exiting the store.

The walk home was even shorter than the walk there. They made it to Dean’s house in no time and he stopped, turning to say goodbye before walking up the steps to his front door.

“Wait,” Cas said, almost inaudibly. Dean turned around to look at him as Cas pulled out his grocery bag. “This is for you.” Cas was rather timid as he reached out to hand Dean the piece of pie he had bought, but planted it firmly in Dean’s hand when he tried to wave him off.

“Thanks Cas,” Dean’s lips formed a soft smile as he accepted the pie, “see you soon.”

Dean turned and took the steps two at a time, stopped to unlock the door, and spun back to wave at Cas as he walked inside. Cas waved back as Dean shut the door and continued the walk to his house, a small smile creeping on to his face as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Cas**

“Ding! Ding! Ding!”

Came the steady sounds of a phone going off again, and again, and again. Cas looked down to see what the continuous alerts were about, though he already knew. This constant bombardment of texts had become a daily occurrence. He had no recollection of when they started, but now it would seem odd, almost concerning if he didn’t receive a few every hour or so all day long, every day. Looking at his phone, curious as to what all the fuss what about, he read, incapable of stopping the small smirk from forming across his face.

            _Hey_

_Hey_

_Hey_

_Guess what!_

Cas picked up his phone to reply,

            _What?_

He set it down and waited for a reply. After a few minutes he began to worry, as always. His texts always seemed so plain and unexciting, while the ones he was constantly receiving were witty and humorous, always managing to bring that quiet smile to his face. Cas heard the familiar ding of his phone and practically sprung out of his chair to grab it, wondering what was so worth guessing.

            _It’s Wednesday_

Dean was always doing this. Sending these messages that seemed intriguing, that drew him in, only to be returned with something obvious and random. However, Cas understood these random texts were sent for the sole purpose of keeping a conversation going. When at least sixteen of the past twenty-four hours were spent talking to the same person each day, the topics of conversation are bound to eventually run dry. They always seemed to manage though. With text like these, or a solid hour of different animal sounds sent between the two boys, there was always an easy way to continue. There was a sort of unspoken deal that this conversation never had a true end, even if the other was busy and did not reply for a few hours. They always picked up where they left off no questions asked, occasionally an apology if the pause between messages was extensively long. This way, the conversation could continue for days, even weeks without end. And it did.

After a couple weeks of this, Cas began to notice the texts from Dean he would read each morning were being sent at three or four am, Dean didn’t sleep much apparently. So naturally, Cas began to sacrifice his precious hours of sleep. He began staying up later and later with Dean until he could easily go without sleep until five in the morning. Dean seemed to enjoy the company, seeing as there weren’t many people awake at these hours.

Their sleepless nights continued together. Cas would lay in a dark room and try to find distractions to keep his weary eyes open, waiting for his phone to light up on the mattress next to him. He always stopped immediately to read Dean’s incoming texts. His replies didn’t need to be sensible or helpful; he just needed to remind Dean he was there. After replying he set his phone back on the bed, waiting until either Dean replied or he fell asleep. The moonlight flooded through his window and he remembered how nice the stars had looked that night.

\------------------

**Dean**

Dean didn’t really sleep much. Over the years his trouble falling asleep got increasingly worse until he was finally diagnosed with insomnia. He was told it had something to do with his depression but all it really meant to him was that he rarely got the peace of sleeping at night. This left him to sit up, alone, in the dark while the world was asleep around him. Dean didn’t really mind though, the night was his world. He felt comfortable not having to deal with people for at least a couple hours. In the summer he liked to go sit outside and lie in the grass, watching the stars. There was a cat in the neighborhood Dean had made friends with and she sometimes came to sit with him. He liked to listen to the night, the cars in the distance, the quiet purring of the cat next him as he pet her. There were only nocturnal animals out at this hour and Dean felt like he had become one of them.

Dean felt a quiet vibration run through his body. He lifted his head out of the grass and picked his phone up from where it was resting on his chest. It was a text from Cas. Surprised, Dean checked the time, it was four- thirty. Cas seemed to be staying up later each night. Dean didn’t realize it until recently because he was so used to being in constant contact with Cas, but he usually went to bed around midnight, not four. Dean was worried he was keeping Cas up at night, but he had to admit it was nice to have a friend for company. _Well, a human friend_ , Dean thought, as the cat meowed next to him. After replying, Dean dropped his phone back on his chest, fell back in the grass, and waited until Cas either replied or fell asleep. The moonlight hit his face and he wanted to remember how nice the stars looked that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Sophomore year approaches and occurs there is a lot more happening. Because of this, chapters will most likely be shorter but there will be more of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, finals were a bitch.

**Dean**

As the hours got smaller, the conversations got longer and the content became increasingly personal. The things people are too scared to say during the day don’t seem so scary when the rest of the world is asleep. Cas learned everything about Dean, and in turn Dean learned everything about him. They felt comfortable together, understanding, not trying to fix the other’s problems, just listening. After the sun went down and the world went to sleep, the words poured out of Cas, and the darkness seemed to have the same effect on Dean. Cas thought, _this_ was what real friendship was like. Him and Dean, they just seemed to click. Cas had never found himself capable of being this honest and open before, but Dean made it so simple, so painless.

The boys stayed awake well into the night talking about everything and nothing. Dean eventually opened up to Cas about his life and his family. Cas finally learned why Dean was always the one making dinner, his father was a pathetic drunk. He was rarely home and when he was he was either passed out, or screaming at Dean and his younger brother Sammy. Dean felt like everything that went wrong was his fault, or at least that's how his father always made it out to be. The dishes weren’t clean, his fault. The house was a mess, his fault. The fridge was empty because his father spent all their money on alcohol, still somehow his fault. Everything was always his fault. However, Dean was strong, he could handle it, and all he had to do was protect Sammy. Sam was young and weak and wouldn’t be able to handle it if he had to face everything John was dealing out. So Dean took it all. Every hit, every scream, every missed meal. Dean absorbed it all for the sake of his little brother. Although he convinced himself he could handle it, he soon discovered it was impossible. Dean eventually fell apart. He took everything, all the pain and hurt and blame that John made him feel, and turned it inwards. Dean tore himself to shreds from the inside out as he tried to kill the demons that had been born inside him. He started skipping school; he stopped bothering to even try to get something to eat. The only thing he could bring himself to care about was making sure that Sam stayed healthy, and away from this dark part of him that had begun to take over his life.

Sam was a good kid though, Dean said that at least four times a day, and he noticed. He noticed Dean falling apart while trying to save him. Poor, eleven year old Sammy was left to step up and take a turn saving his older brother for a change. He eventually found their uncle, and told him everything. This small, brave child managed to muddle through his explanation and in turn, rescued his family. Well, he rescued Dean, who at this point was his only real family, John didn’t count in Sam’s opinion. His uncle, Bobby, came and got the boys out of that house, enraged after finding out how John treated the boys. He was appalled, disgusted, and most of all disappointed. John and Bobby had grown up in a broken home, their own father being an abusive ass. They were both lucky enough to make it out of that house when they were kids. Bobby finally decided to stand up to their father, and was forced to kill him in the end, right in front of their mother in order to save her life. The fact that John could have the audacity to, after everything they went through together, turn and do the same to his own children, it was horrendous.

Bobby, who was no stranger to protecting family, did it again. He rescued both Sam and Dean from that horrid house. Of course not without giving John a piece of his mind, and his fist, first. Bobby was eventually able to win a custody battle for the boys and they grew up with him in Sioux Falls. Bobby gave them a loving home, some place where they actually felt safe, and comfortable, and never went hungry. However, the scars from those years spent with John still clung on to Dean. Bobby arranged for him to see someone, but Dean couldn’t manage to ditch some of the feelings that had resulted from those years of abuse. The demons that formed inside him were of course smaller now, but they were still there, and they liked the dark. This, or so Dean was told, was why he was unable to sleep. At night his mind went into overdrive and his emotions got far too intense for him to grow tired. So he stayed awake and listened to the quiet of the world around him, undisturbed by daytime human hustle and bustle.

Cas listened as Dean explained all this to him, replying appropriately to keep Dean going. Cas seemed to think it was helping, he always felt better when talking about his problems, even if it was just angry ranting. Later on, Dean would always return the favor.

\--------------------------

**Cas**

Cas had some problems too. Hell everyone does, but his were diagnosable. Cas had a difficult time controlling his anxiety. Most things made him anxious, but in particular, people. Cas could not handle people. Crowds of people, groups of people, pairs of people. If Cas wasn’t close friends with them, they made him panic. Even his close friends made him nervous sometimes. Cas knew they shouldn’t, they had to love him if they had stayed his friends for this long, but he still had a voice somewhere in his head always second guessing that. He could so simply convince himself that all his friends had to be pretending to like him, while they talked about him behind his back. Other times, as Cas described it to Dean, he knew in his head people loved him, but it didn’t feel like it. Fighting against this voice in his head, which Cas was assured on several occasions was lying, caused him great stress. He could always convince himself that that group of strangers giggling over there had to be laughing at him. Never mind they had no clue who he was, they must be making fun of him, there was no other explanation in his mind. Spending every moment like this when with others was exhausting. Cas had to monitor all of his actions and words to make sure he couldn’t possibly say something wrong. However, when Cas got home and was alone in his room, he would go over what he said that day or what he did, and spiraled into a deeper panic as he began to fear that everything he did that day made others hate him. It was a vicious cycle, and on top of that, he felt like he couldn’t talk to anybody about it because he was so nervous about bothering them with his problems. He swore his most commonly used word was sorry.

But like Cas had done for him, Dean listened. He did take moments to reassure Cas that he wasn’t doing anything wrong, Cas had told him that helped. Dean really did care about the other boy, but he didn’t feel like there was a way he could get Cas to believe it. Still, he tried his hardest to be there for him, because that’s what Cas did for him.

As they grew closer, talks like this didn’t feel like a big deal anymore, just something they did at night because they needed to get some relief from their day. As the night progressed, their conversations became like a snowball rolling down a hill, gradually getting heavier as it went. But, when the sun came up, the snow melted away. Everything was different in the day time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Cas**

Cas walked outside, phone in hand, he was never seen without it these days. It was warm and sunny and the sky was blue, basically a perfect July day. He wandered around for a bit, checking his phone again before selecting a place to drop himself heavily into the warm grass. He flopped down onto his back and, covering his eyes from the mid-day sun, and stared up at the sky. He liked to look at the clouds as they floated by. He knew it was childish, but he still loved to see what shapes he could make out of them as they shifted. He had just spotted a turtle when he heard his phone go off again. Dean had been having a rough time the previous night and Cas wanted to make sure he was okay. During the day however, Dean would never mention the talks of the night before, he simply remained his normal, goofy self. Cas couldn’t tell if this was good, or more reason to worry. But for now, he let himself enjoy happy daytime Dean. Dealing with the dark stuff was a problem he had now learned was best left for after the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

Cas lifted his phone off the ground, shading the screen from the sun with his hand as he tried to read what Dean had said. Normally Cas would have been surprised, even worried, that his first text from Dean had come so late in the day, but Dean had actually been sleeping more lately. He still would stay up until four or five in the morning, but he had started waking up around noon. Although this cut into the time Cas got to spend talking with him, not to mention the hours in the morning when he had to walk around with nothing to do, Cas didn’t mind that much. He was happy Dean was finally getting to sleep some, even if it was nocturnally.

Dean’s text was normal for their conversations. It was used to let Cas know he was awake and okay, without actually saying it. Dean would just spring into a new conversation no matter what the time, not acknowledging any of the surrounding circumstances, such as their talk last night. Cas just went along with it. He decided it was best to indulge Dean and enjoy their talks no matter what they were about. Today Dean wanted to discuss why eggs were discriminated against as solely a breakfast food. This was typical Dean behavior, and Cas loved every bit of it. He played along completely seriously, going at it from a societal stand point to try and defend the honor of eggs. As their conversation continued, Cas found himself laughing alone as he lay in the grass, picking up his phone every few minutes to check the next argument he would have to refute in the name of their talk on breakfast social justice. Regardless of whatever whacky topic Dean picked that day, Cas knew he would always enjoy himself. Dean could always manage to make him laugh. He didn’t even need to be in the same room as Cas, their conversations simply made it like Dean was always present. In a way he was, because no matter what, Cas knew he was only a text away. Dean was the one person who Cas never really worried about bothering. If he wanted to say something, he said it. He didn’t spend twenty minutes wondering if Dean would get annoyed or if he didn’t care like Cas often did with everyone else. With Dean he was comfortable. Cas never thought he’d be able to find another friendship like this.

Another day dawned, August was fast approaching. Cas was spending the week at his family’s cottage and was loving waking up to see sunshine on the lake every morning. He usually skipped breakfast and just headed straight down to the water and sat on the dock. This morning he was sitting there, phone by his side, the morning sun on his back, but still a light breeze out on the water. Cas thought it was beautiful, and it was. He got on his stomach so he could dangle his arms over the water and look into it. Cas had always loved water. It was so beautiful and calming and made everything prettier. He could see the rocks on the bottom of the lake being distorted by the water. The seaweed danced with the waves. The seaweed. It was so green. Almost as green as Dean’s eyes.

Cas hadn’t actually seen Dean in a few weeks. Of course they were still texting constantly, but it really wasn’t the same. Cas couldn’t see those freckles and the soft tan he imagined Dean had been developing over text. He couldn’t look into those ridiculously green eyes of his over text…

God what was Cas thinking? He sat up quickly, snapping out of the daydream. The way he had been thinking about Dean lately was bordering on creepy. Yeah Cas was capable of acknowledging that Dean was beautiful, or attractive or whatever, but that didn’t mean Cas was attracted to him. Day dreaming of his eyes though?  This was a new level. Cas wasn’t gay, he couldn’t be. Everyone he had had a crush on to this point had been a girl, he had only ever been interested in girls. So what was it about Dean that made Cas smile everything he thought about him? Why was Cas lying lovesick on the dock, wishing he could see Dean again sooner?

_Nope, nope, not lovesick,_ Cas corrected himself _, we’re just good friends and I miss him because you can miss friends_. This was ridiculous, Cas wasn’t gay.


	8. Chapter 8

**Dean**

Dean had spent the majority of the past two weeks in his basement, lying on his couch, playing video games. It was summer, it was hot, and Dean had nothing to do. He was astronomically bored, he was even bored of this game, but there was literally nothing to do. Well, nothing that didn’t require effort or removing himself from the slightly cooler environment of his basement. He had already shed his shirt hours ago and he still thought he was going to melt into the couch if it didn’t get any colder soon. So he just lay there, mindlessly fiddling with the controller and waiting to either not be bored, or be incinerated by this heat, whichever came first.

He hadn’t seen Cas in a few weeks. He was up at his family’s cottage on a lake somewhere; Dean couldn’t remember which one, though Cas had told him. They had been spending most of their other summer days together until then, and that was why now, Dean had no clue what to do with himself. Even though most of the days Cas and he had spent together were much like this, lying on his couch and complaining about the heat, it wasn’t boring when Cas was there. There was a difference between being bored alone and being bored together, because when you’re together, nothing actually seems boring anymore, not when there’s something there to suffer through it with you. Now Dean was left at home, stuck with real, actually, lonely boredom. Sam went out a few hours ago with some kid down the street and Bobby would be at work all day so it wasn’t even like he could bother them. Dean heard a faint buzz coming from somewhere in the room. After a few minutes of ignoring it, Dean heard the sound again and recognized it as his phone. He looked around and dropped his arm over the edge of the couch to see if it was underneath. No luck. After a few minutes of contemplating the possible importance of the text and whether it was worth getting up, he practically flopped of the couch on to the ground. Standing up was overrated. Dean, being unbelievably lazy, crawled around on the floor and then popped his head up to look at the couch he had just so gracefully left. He stuck his hand in between the cushions and felt around, coins, popcorn kernels, a paperclip, and eventually, his phone. He pulled it out from the couch before throwing himself back on it, happy to be lying down again. He rolled onto his side and brought his phone up to his face, squinting at the text. Oh right, the thing that could rescue Dean from the perdition he found himself in with this excessive dullness, a text from Cas.

Cas and Dean had continued their conversations while Cas was away, and well it would have been preferable to have these conversations in person, Dean would settle for this. Even though Cas was away, constantly talking to him made it feel like he really was not. With each incoming text, Dean felt like Cas was lying there, moping next to him, not miles away, probably lying in the sun, swimming in the lake. He and Cas had gone swimming once together this summer. Neither of them had a pool, but Cas texted him one day, saying his neighbor was going to be gone for the weekend, his neighbor, he mentioned, had a rather nice pool. It was perfect swimming weather out, not too hot, but warm enough it felt refreshing to spend the day in the pool. As soon as Cas texted him, Dean jumped into his only swim trunks, hastily put a tee-shirt on, and biked over there. When he arrived, Cas was waiting on his porch, towel in hand. They raced across his yard to the pool next door and threw their shirts off before jumping in. Both boys came up and swam towards each other, splashing and horsing around as boys do. They spent most of the day in the pool and crawled out when it started to get dark. The temperature dropped quickly, and though it was still warm, Cas noticed Dean curling up in his wet, clothes, trying to preserve what little heat he had left in his body. Dean, being the idiot he was, rushed out the door without thinking to grab any other clothes and had politely turned Cas down when he offered him some of his own for the night. He claimed he wasn’t cold at all and would be fine, but Cas felt so bad watching him shiver. Cas excused himself and Dean sat on the lawn, looking around at the trees, before laying back into the grass and learning it still held some residual heat from the sun. Cas came out a few minutes later with a small stack of clothes and thrust them at Dean. He finally gave in and went inside to change as instructed.

Dean slide out of his wet bathing suit and slipped on the shorts Cas had given him. His shirt was still dry, but Cas had left a blue hoodie as well. Dean gently slid it over his head. Damn it was soft. And it smelled like Cas too, a scent Dean could only relate to stormy nights, honey, and sky blue. A few minutes later, Dean wandered back outside, this time in the dry clothes Cas had provided him. Cas sat on the ground piling sticks to make a fire. Dean sat down next to him and Cas smiled, satisfied.

            “Better?” Cas asked, a smirk pulling at one corner of his mouth, knowing Dean was grateful for the warmth.

            “Better.” Dean replied before reaching to grab some more wood to add to the growing pile.

Their fire had been burning well for a while, and both boys were now on their backs, lying side by side and staring at the stars. It was an incredibly clear night and Dean thought Cas knew too much about space. At first he complained about the excess of information that existed in Cas’s head, but after a while he indulged Cas, pointing out the few constellations he knew, and letting Cas get excited as he filled in the several gaps in Dean’s intergalactic knowledge. The fire warmed their feet and stars filled their minds as they talked through the night.

Dean thought about this night as he sat on his couch, still wishing for something to do. Unfortunately, he had now occupied himself thinking about Cas. Now Dean was in no denial that he was queer, but for Cas? No way. However Dean became increasingly unsure as his mind wandered back to that day, seeing Cas’s body when he threw his shirt off, his wet, dark brown hair flopping over his stupid blue eyes before he had the chance to fix it. Laying on the ground together, and now all Dean could think about was how nice it would have been to move over just a bit so their shoulders had touched. He couldn't prevent himself from imagining the lightning that would have flooded through his body as they connected.

Well fuck, maybe Dean did like Cas.

\--------------------

Dean stayed in the basement all night. He passed out around two, after hours of tormented thinking. The next morning he woke up and checked his phone. No texts from Cas. However, and much to Dean’s surprise, there was a text from him, written but unsent. Dean vaguely remembered writing it the previous night, his memories still clouded with exhaustion. Dean immediately went to delete it, but apparently came the same conclusion he did last night. _Fuck it._

            Dean pressed send.


	9. Chapter 9

**Cas**

_Good Morning Babe_

            Cas had just woken up. He did the same thing he did every morning and reached his hand around the table next to him, eyes closed, searching for his phone. He grabbed it and squinted as he tried to open his eyes as minimally as possible to see if there were any messages, he wasn’t expecting any; Dean was usually asleep when Cas woke up, or he hadn’t been to sleep yet. Much to his surprise there was a text waiting for him. As he tried to read it his eyes flew open, he was no longer anywhere near capable of falling back asleep. He sat up quickly in bed and just stared at his phone for several minutes, trying to figure out how he accidentally received this text from Dean. It had to be an accident right? A mistake surely. Nowhere in Cas’s mind could he imagine that Dean would purposefully send a text like this to him. It wasn't even in the realm of possibilities that Dean could feel anywhere close enough to what Cas felt for him that would encourage him to address him this way. Cas got out of bed, allowing himself to toss his phone aside as he paced his room. He needed some time to figure out how to respond to this, or wait for Dean to realize he had texted the wrong person and apologize.

            Cas pulled a clean tee shirt over his head and fumbled into a pair of pants. He looked in the mirror and saw how red his face was, he hadn’t even noticed the bright blush that had spread across his cheeks as he answered his phone, but he could see it now, and feel the heat that still resided in his face. Cas stood, exhaling loudly and running his hands through his hair nervously as he continued to think. He flopped back on his bed and rolled over to check his phone again. Still no message had come into to explain the phenomenon. Cas had no clue how to reply, but thankfully, he had some time where he could pretend he was asleep and in the meantime figure out what this meant. He slid his phone in his back pocket and padded heavily down the stairs.

            Cas found himself standing on the end of his dock, staring at the lake. It was a beautiful day out, warm and sunny, complete with a cool breeze that encourage so many to be out on the lake today. As Cas sat he put his feet in the water, grateful for the coolness, he stared at the people buzzing about enjoying their days. It seemed so odd to him how all these people could be out relaxing and having fun while he felt as if his insides were collapsing. Even as his world was crumbling brick by brick, the outside world was being built up to be bigger and better. Cas sat and watched and realized that no matter what was going on in his world, everyone else’s would spin on, undisturbed. After contemplating this idea, Cas finally decided that whatever he did, his world could spin on too, it might face an earthquake, but it could spin on.

            He typed out about twenty different messages before finally deciding on one. It had to be something that acknowledged how uncharacteristic the message was, while being casual enough that it wouldn’t make Cas seem too eager. On top of all this, it had to be something he could easily laugh off or explain away as a joke if Dean were to reply saying it was meant for someone else. Even after he reached his decision, he typed, deleted and retyped that message at least six times. Finally, he closed his eyes, and thought, _fuck it._

Cas pressed send.

\-------------------------------

**Dean**

            Dean was still lying on the couch when his phone went off. He immediately grabbed it and saw the message was from Cas.

“Finally” he sighed.

Waiting for Cas to reply had felt like an eternity. The level of boredom Dean was approaching was so dangerous he had considered just calling Cas. He had imagined calling Cas, hearing his voice, probably still tinted with exhaustion. He imagined Cas smiling as he opened his eyes and listened as Dean’s voice was the first he heard that morning. He imagined this for so long, and what it would feel like, how it would feel to hear Cas say he felt the same, he imagined so much he almost did it. He stopped himself as his finger was hovering over the button to dial. Dean knew at this point if he called Cas and heard him and imagined he was there, staring into those blue eyes, there would be no way to stop the words from just stumbling and flooding from his mouth. Dean was nowhere close to being ready for that to happen, and he knew it.

On the other hand, as he sat and waited for longer and longer, he grew increasingly nervous. What if he got freaked out? What if he thought it was creepy and he was trying to come up with a way to never have to speak to Dean again? With all these what if’s running through his mind, Dean nearly texted Cas again, saying it was a joke, or meant for someone else, or autocorrect, or something that would get him out of this potentially problematic situation. He could slap himself for being so stupid this morning. What was he thinking calling Cas babe? Cas had probably already seen it and was going to ask what the hell was he thinking sending that. It wouldn’t matter; Dean was already asking himself the same thing and could not come up with a reasonable answer.

Dean realized he had been holding his breath the whole time he had been sitting there, just staring at the little envelope next to his notification. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, but he forced himself to exhale as he faced the fate that was awaiting him.

He opened the message.

_Good Morning Darling._

Dean couldn’t breathe again, but this time he didn’t mind.


	10. Chapter 10

**Cas**

           The summer was coming to a close. Just like every other brief period of sunshine that was spent ignoring the impending dreariness of yet another year of school, it went by way too fast. Just like every other summer it was hot, and sticky, and humid. Regardless, this was not like every other summer for Cas. Following their exchange of good morning texts that couldn’t be described as anything but an awkward and magical event, their conversation continued as normal. They talked about anything and everything, they stayed up late into the night, they made jokes, they talked about nothing important, and some things that were very important. Cas, like always, fell asleep first. He was exhausted from staying up with Dean for over a month now, and he felt weirdly calm, a combination that allowed him to sleep until three the next afternoon. He woke up from a pleasant dream. It was wild. He had dreamt that he was home, rather than at his cottage, and he had gone over to Dean’s house to hang out. They had a normal, uneventful day as they lay sprawled out on the couch in Dean’s basement together playing video games. It wasn’t uncommon for Cas not to realize how late it was or for him to be far too unmotivated to get up and go home, so he would simply spend the night at Deans. This was exactly what had happened in his dream, except part way through the night they decided to get up and go outside.

            Dean had a nice back yard, well, as far as large patches of grass behind houses could go. It was flat and the grass was always soft. Some years ago Dean had made a makeshift fire pit out there which consisted of some large stones placed in an oblong oval around an ash covered patch of dirt. On one side, his neighbors had a long, white picket fence enclosing their perfectly manicured lawn (Dean liked to call it the Apple Pie Life House). At the end of the yard and wrapping around the other side, there were just large trees. They reached up high and spread out at the top, creating a nice canopy if you were sitting beneath them. They didn’t cover the sky above the center of the yard though; that was where Dean liked to lay so he could see the stars, or the clouds, whichever were out that night.

            Dean had brought a small blanket out for them to lie on because despite how soft the grass was, Dean had just cut it and didn’t want to deal with being covered in blades of grass when he got up. The blanket was small so the boys had to lay close to each other, almost touching but not quite. They sat in silence as they stared at the sky, and Cas could feel the heat radiating out from Dean’s body as he lay next to him. Dean was always so goddamn warm; Cas could swear he was practically a human furnace. It was a nice complement to Cas’s body though, which somehow managed to constantly be in a state of freezing.

            Neither of them talked and after a while Cas could feel himself starting to nod off. It was late, or early? However you looked at it Cas needed to be asleep. He kind of turned his body on the blanket because he was pretty much incapable of sleeping on his back and closed his eyes. Dean noticed and just kind of stared at Cas’s back for a bit, thinking very hard. After a few minutes he settled down on the blanket and closed his eyes as well.

            “Good night Babe” he muttered.

            Without thinking much about it, sleep already overcoming his brain, Cas just let out a gentle, “good night Darling” and drifted off.

            Cas remembered the dream with a smile on his face as he started to get out of bed. It had been so nice, and so realistic. It was one of those dreams that felt real even after you had woken up. _If only it had been real._ Cas thought. He pulled on a shirt and slid in to his shorts, ready to go face a scolding from his mother about sleeping too late. As he was opening the door he saw his phone sitting next to the bed and before he could even think to go grab it, his memories from the day before came flooding back. _It was real._ Minus the being home and lying next to Dean as they fell asleep under the stars, Dean really had called him Babe, and Cas had called him Darling right back. Cas felt that familiar heat in his face as a blush crept up his neck and flooded his face. He was still trying to figure out the mystery of yesterday and what had brought the affection on, but had come up with nothing. Still a little concerned his mind was playing a trick on him, Cas grabbed his phone to unlock it and check to make sure that exchange of messages had really happened, and it wasn’t just another hopeful dream. Before he could get that far though, he saw he had another message from Dean from earlier that morning. He clicked to view it and inhaled sharply as he read through it over and over again. He scrolled up through their messages to see if the texts from yesterday morning were still there. Sure enough, the evidence was there to support his memories from the other morning. Cas scrolled back down to today, he felt his cheeks getting increasingly inflamed as his screen lit up his face with the message,

            _Good Morning Babe._

            Cas found himself smiling ridiculously as he typed out his reply and hit send, watching his _Good Morning Darling_ , wait to be delivered.


	11. Chapter 11

**Cas**

These morning exchanges continued for the few days that were left of that summer. Cas got to wake up every morning to a sweet text. Dean was able to experience the same due to their spacing in sleeping schedules. As much as Cas enjoyed staying up with Dean, this summer had been exhausting. Cas required an enormous amount of sleep and with the new school year so close, he regretfully told Dean goodnight earlier than usual. On the bright side, Cas’s regrets were often met with a reply that left him feeling fuzzy and warm as he tried to sleep. He could drift off with Dean’s _Good Night Babe_ in his mind, and know that when he woke he would be greeted by a good morning. Now that Cas wasn’t staying up with him, Dean had been pushing himself to try and go to sleep earlier so he could be awake when Cas was. However it wasn’t that easy and Dean was rarely successful. This resulted in him sending his text to wake Cas as he was falling asleep, allowing him to later wake up to Cas’s reply. It was a wonderful system they had working and both boys wished school would never start so they could stay like this. They felt like they were in this weird space outside of time and reality, where their routine was all there was. All there was in each of their worlds was each other; they were like two planets constantly revolving around on another. The only thing keeping them in orbit was the constant pull of the other’s gravity. They had a wonderfully symbiotic relationship that up until now, had worked magnificently for both of them.

            The first thing Dean did after he got his class schedule for the new year, was call Cas. Both had been desperately hoping they would have classes together this year so they could actually see each other every day this year. Cas picked up the phone after the second ring. Dean couldn’t help but grin as he heard Cas excitedly talking about all the classes he was taking. Dean thought about what a nerd Cas was sometimes, but also how he admittedly found it slightly adorable. Dean could listen to Cas talk for hours, and Cas could talk for hours. As soon as he got started on something he was passionate about he just couldn’t stop. Cas was such a quiet kid in public, but with Dean he would never run out of things to say, sometimes tripping over his words as they became superfluous. Dean loved to just sit back and watch as this happened. It didn’t matter what Cas was ranting about, as soon as he began to talk his eyes lit up, his speed grew, and he couldn’t sit still, his arms flailing about as he got increasingly involved in his own discussion. Dean would almost always let him go on for as long as he wished. To Dean, there was something beautiful about seeing a person talk about something they love, and he wouldn’t dare take away an opportunity to see Cas smile and shine.

            However, this was not the time. Dean tried to interrupt Cas as gently as possible. “Hey, Cas, buddy, that’s great but _do we have any classes together?_ ” Dean stressed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to wait through Cas’s speech to get an answer. Cas and Dean compared their classes and discovered they had English, History, and _thank god_ , lunch together. Not as many as Dean had hoped, but he wouldn’t complain. All three classes were in a row so he got exactly 135 straight minutes a day to spend with Cas. After talking for a while longer about this and that, the two boys finally hung up the phone to return to their own boring, separate lives.

***********

**Cas**

            Their second first day of high school came and went. As is tradition, everyone was greeted by hugs and excitement on the first day over those who they had not seen much of that summer. Summer always managed to seem short while you’re in it, but as soon as it’s over it felt like an eternity since you had last seen your friends. Of course Dean and Cas really hadn’t lacked the presence of each other for the past three months, but neither backed off from the opportunity to hug while the same exchanges were going on around them amongst their friend group. Everyone was finally back together after most had scattered during the summer. Shortly after the bell rang and the group was once again forced to scatter as they went off to their first period classes. The day was boring, as Cas had expected, but halfway through the day he finally got to meet up with Dean. Without discussing it, they fell back into their routine of meeting at Cas’s locker before English and walking together. However, now they both actually got to enter the same classroom. They walked together slowly from Cas’s locker and as they reached the room they quietly shared their hope that it wasn’t one of those teachers that had assigned seats. They pushed open the door and entered the classroom, Dean going first, and both their faces sunk as they looked at the table they say just in front of them. It was of course, holding the layout of a lovely seating chart their teacher had designed out of the goodness of her heart. Great. Dean slunk forwards and began to examine the chart, looking first for his own name, and then feverishly for Cas’s. Once it was found, they both ended up awkwardly pointing at it together as Cas had just managed to find his seat, he had looked for Dean’s first. They both let out a gentle sigh and exchanged a shared disappointed look as they shuffled over to opposite sides of the room, and took their seats. _Great,_ Cas thought, _we’re pretty much as far away as we could possibly be in this tiny classroom._ Their teacher started class and Cas tried to settle in his seat, waiting to face a year of losing 40 of his 135 minutes with Dean due to this stupid seating chart. After about five minutes of moping, Cas turned his head from the front of the room to steal a glance at Dean. He had to do a double take as he found himself rather surprised that Dean was staring at him as well. They chuckled silently together as they realized. It didn’t take long for both of them to realize that although they weren’t sitting next to each other, they were in for a fun year of trying to read the other’s lips and expressions as they learned to communicate across the classroom. By the time English had ended, Cas stood up to join Dean, both boys grinning before they burst into laughter once they were in the hallway. They made it to lunch together and sat down at a table with Kevin and Ash, glad they got a chance to talk and rest as they ate their lunches. The period passed quickly and Cas and Dean waved goodbye to Kevin and Ash as they departed for the last class they had together that day. When they got to the door of their History room, they shared a hopeful glance, both thinking the same thing, _please don’t have a seating chart_. Cas pushed open the door this time and was greeted by joy, no assigned seats. Cas and Dean snagged a pair of seats next to each other, near their friends who had already arrived. Both boys shared a smile across their faces as they sat. They looked at each other, knowing they were both smiling for the same reason. Silent communication and secret stares were not necessary in this class, but Cas was happy to know they wouldn’t need much practice for English.


	12. Chapter 12

**Dean**

            After a few weeks of sporadic appearances from both Ash and Kevin at lunch, the presence of either became a rare event. Kevin spent 99% of his time in the library; Dean still didn’t know how he could stand it. The library always had this weird smell and it was eerily quiet, not to mention the librarians all hated him after he got caught on multiple occasions trying to sneak food in. Ash on the other hand just kind of disappeared. No one really knew where he went during his lunch period but no one could ever find him if he wasn’t in the cafeteria. Charlie guessed that he was sneaking out to get lunch with some of his senior friends while Cas guess he was off in a lab somewhere still trying to hide the fact that he was a computer genius, despite the fact that all of them knew. Regardless, this meant most days belonged to Cas and him. They had a table towards the back of the room and no one else ever tried to join them. Dean liked it this way. He got all of Cas to himself, never having to share his attention with anyone else. Except on the days after which Cas had fallen asleep the night before doing homework that was due the next period and he spent lunch feverishly bent over his work, scribbling out sentences and spewing curses at the school system. Dean didn’t mind this either, it meant Cas was distracted and Dean could just sit and silently indulge himself as he stared at Cas. Dean could watch as Cas forcefully pressed his pencil to the paper like he thought if he could stab it hard enough he wouldn’t have to do it. He watched as Cas ran his fingers through his hair manically as he glanced up at the clock and counted to himself how much time he had left. He watched as Cas pushed his face so close to the paper his glasses were almost touching it, sliding slowly down his nose so he would have to sit up every so often to readjust them. Dean could stare at how Cas’s shirt would stretch across his back and over his shoulders as he hunched over. Dean would always joke that Cas looked like a mad genius as they would slowly meander towards history, Cas adding some final scribbles to his work and Dean gently guiding him through the sea of bodies. Cas trusted him enough that he never had to look up once, until just before they reached the room. He somehow always managed to complete the work before he walked in the room, throwing his hands is the air as he triumphed over the assignment and sheathed his pencil back behind his ear.

            On the days Cas hadn’t procrastinated so horribly, they could sit and talk. Cas always tried to tell Dean bad jokes and Dean laughed, usually not because they were funny, but just because Cas was always so tickled by his own jokes that just felt rude not joining in. They would complain about their classes or laugh at their teachers or something stupid another kid had said that day. One day they got bored and managed to the number of speckles on the cafeteria’s hard, gray, particle board tables, 2,736. Dean felt every other period of the day was horrendously slow, surely lasting more than forty minutes (He was convinced that someone slowed the clocks down in the school). Lunch with Cas however, could never seem to last long enough.

**Cas**

Cas swore it was some miracle that he got Dean all to himself at lunch. Kevin and Ash had both disappeared, Cas joked that they were off plotting how to take over the world together, although as the two smartest kids in their school, he didn’t doubt they could if they tried. Even if they did, he could care less as long as he still got to spend these forty minutes alone with Dean each day. During the summer they had spent hours on end together so this was a small chunk of their day in comparison, but somehow that made it even better. Each minute felt significantly more important as the clock clicked away towards the bell that meant they had to move on and rejoin their peers in the next class. Cas liked watching Dean when he wasn’t looking. At first he felt his stolen glances were creepy, bordering on stalkerish, but he soon learned to indulge himself. If Cas was going to have to spend his time suffering through this hell called high school, then he figured he at least deserved to have a nice view. Dean had plenty of time to do any work he actually planned on completing in the early hours of the morning when he couldn’t sleep, so Cas rarely found him distracted by school during their lunch period together. As nice as this was, it always made Cas feel doubly guilty when he had to spend those precious forty minutes mostly ignoring Dean as he fought the clock. Of course Dean was usually distracted by his food for some of the time so Cas didn’t feel that bad. Dean spent almost everyday cursing the quality of the cafeteria “food”, but that didn’t stop him from wolfing it down daily, and finishing with a bag of chips he grabbed from the vending machine.

            “What?” Dean asked one day, mid-swallow through a cheeseburger with cheese that looked suspiciously like rubber. Cas had definitely been staring at him, half grossed out, and half in awe of how Dean could manage to eat that. “Dude’s gotta eat man.” He replied as he shoved the next bite of burger down his throat.

            Cas only scoffed and looked back down at the assignment on the table in front of him that he was distractedly doodling on, rather than making any sort of progress. He kept his head down, close to the paper, but couldn’t help staring at Dean out of the corner of his eye. Dean was too distracted by his food to notice his stare, and Cas was too distracted by Dean not to notice his throat move as he swallowed the last of the burger. Cas’s eyes moved to trace along Dean’s jaw line, where awkward adolescent stubble was attempting to grow. His gaze ran down his spine, straight and strong, muscles visible beneath his shirt. Cas self-consciously adjusted his posture; he was always sat with his back bent over and Charlie always gave him shit for it, calling him the new hunchback of Notre Dame.

            Dean finally finished his meal and stood to throw it out. Cas caught a glimpse of a thin line of exposed skin, just above his jeans, as Dean bent to sit back at the table. Cas pulled his legs up and turned to face Dean, he always like to sit crisscross on these benches, even though Dean told him he looked like an idiot. He liked to be facing people when he talked to them, yet sometimes this proved difficult with Dean because he was the type of person who made pretty much constant eye contact, and Cas was the kind of person who wasn’t good at letting go of those green eyes. This typically resulted in subconscious, though sometimes purposeful, intense staring contests throughout the period. These matches ended as they were interrupted by the bell, and both boys groaned as they broke eye contact and stumbled to get off the bench and grab their bags, slowly making their way to the next class. Lunch was by far, Cas’s favourite period.


	13. Chapter 13

**Cas**

            The warm days of the summer season were definitely coming to a close as the leaves began to wither and the air became cool and crisp. Autumn was Cas’s absolute favorite season. It was time to wear pants and sweaters again, time for warm cups of coffee for cold hands, time for the crunch of leaves under his shoes, and apple everything. There was nothing wrong with fall.

            Fall always got Cas in the mood for baking. He didn’t consider himself much of a chef but he could make a fine apple pie, as was his tradition every October. He used to go out with his brothers to an orchard every year to pick fresh apples, but this was the first year that none of them would be coming home for the season. Cas was a bit disappointed to go on his own, but he figured if he went on a Saturday morning he could be done and then make his pie that same day, when he went with his brothers it was always an all-day affair because none of them could ever agree on the best type of apple and spent most of the time horsing around rather than actually picking any apples. Him and Dean were walking home together that Friday after school, and Dean asked if Cas had any plans for the weekend. Without really thinking about it, Cas told Dean about his traditional apple picking trip.

            “I think I’m gonna go tomorrow morning. The bright side of being on my own this year is that I don’t have to coordinate a time with five older brothers.”

            “Hey can I come with you?” Dean asked, his face lighting up with thoughts of fresh apple pie. He looked over at Cas and saw a look of shock on his face. “Or not! It’s okay I don’t want to infringe on your apple plans.”

            “No!” Cas exclaimed, a bit too quickly. He slowed down as he said “I mean it’s fine. I’d love it if you came with me.” He looked down at the pavement as they continued walking, he could feel his face getting hot.

            “Cool,” Dean replied, “It’s a date.” He glanced over at Cas and smiled to himself. Cas was staring intently at the sidewalk, but Dean could see the red going up his cheeks and reaching the tips of his ears. They had reached Dean’s house and he walked up the steps, turning to wave to Cas and yelled “See you tomorrow!”

            Cas just smiled weakly and gave a gentle wave as he continued on to his house.

_A date._

**Dean**

10 A.M.

            Dean had gotten up early to get ready. He paced around his room and watched the clock, waiting for the hands to reach the magical time that he was supposed to leave. His room looked like a disaster zone with half of his closet on the floor and clothes spilling out of his dresser. Dean swore he had tried on every piece of clothing he owned and nothing was right. What do you even wear to go apple picking? He glanced in the mirror at his final decision. He was unsatisfied, but comfortable. Dean ended up in his typical outfit, loose jeans, a plain tee shirt, and a flannel. The clock finally told him it was time to go and he shoved on a pair of boots, took one last check in the mirror to mess with his hair, and opened the door, yelling a goodbye to Sam before walking out and taking the steps two at a time. When Dean reached the sidewalk, he turned on his heel and headed straight for Cas’s house, reminding himself to breath and slow down as he marched down the street. Dean remembered his walk with Cas to the store at the start of the summer, and began to widen his stride to step over each crack as he danced from block to block down the sidewalk. He smiled as he remembered that day and how ridiculous they both had looked prancing down the street. When Dean arrived he checked his phone for the time.

            10 A.M.

            He knocked on the door, and waited.

__________________________________________________

            Dean gently bounced on his toes as he waited for someone to come to the door. He was just about to knock again when the door flung open to reveal a disheveled Cas. Dean laughed as Cas let him in and shut the door behind him.

            “Sorry!” Cas exclaimed. “I didn’t forget I’m just not good at being on time. You can come up I’m just gonna need like five more minutes.”

            Dean was still chuckling, not sure why he thought Cas would ever be on time. He’d always been notoriously late to everything. Dean followed Cas as he rushed up the stairs back to his room. Dean closed the door behind him and flopped down on Cas’s bed as he waited for Cas to get ready. Dean had been here enough that he was comfortable and happily made himself at home while he waited. Cas’s room was nearly twice the size of the room him and Sammy shared back home. He had a big window that faced West so you could see the sun set every night, and a bed with one of those big comforters that made it feel like he was lying on a cloud. The walls were a pastel yellow that Dean had hated at first, but now he found comforting as he lay on Cas’s bed. Cas even had his own bathroom attached to his room that Dean was especially jealous of. Dean heard a dresser drawer close and Cas disappeared into the bathroom with a pair of jeans in hand. He emerged a few minutes later, and began rifling through his closet to find a shirt. Dean couldn’t help but turn his head to the side a bit and peak out of the corner of his eye, as Cas pulled his old tee-shirt off over his head and tossed it in the hamper next to him. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes traveled from Cas’s shoulders, down his spine, and rested on the small dimples that were visible just above his pant line. Dean’s gaze was quickly interrupted by the hemline of a new shirt as Cas pulled it down his body and turned to Dean.

            “Ready to go!” He said excitedly, and made his way for the door.

            Dean jumped off the bed and followed him back downstairs begrudgingly, sad to have to get out of that bed. When Dean got to the door, Cas was shoving his feet into an old pair of black converse. Cas finished lacing up his shoes and grabbed the car keys before turning to Dean and actually looking at him since the first time he got there. Cas flashed a small smile and took a deep breath now that he was done rushing.

            “Ready?” He asked Dean.

            “Ready.” Dean replied, and followed him out the door, before slamming it behind the two of them.


End file.
